It has been 15 years since Jackson Twesigye started Nyaka School in Kanungu, to help HIV/Aids orphans. Recently, CHRISTOPHER TUSIIME visited the school, which The Observer first reported about in 2010, and found an institution that has evolved from a primary school into a full-fledged secondary school.
When we arrive, the excitement on Able Amanya’s face is hard to ignore. He is a primary five pupil at Nyaka School, clearly delighted to be in that school.
“I feel very good to be here because I get from them everything I want, for me to study,” he says.
His classmate, Rebecca Natukunda, is equally-happy that she is at school, years after her parents passed on.
“I come from Kayanja village to here every morning. Even though it is not very near, I feel good because I’m at school studying. My grandmother, too, is happy,” she says.
However, as the two pupils head home, they can’t miss the imposing Nyaka Vocational Secondary School in Kanungu. The newly-set-up school also provides free education services to orphans and the needy in the area, according Freda Byaburakira, one of the founders of the Nyaka Aids Foundation.
As we reported earlier, it was Jackson Twesigye, who started the school, setting up a school at Nyakagyezi and another at Kutamba in Nyakishenyi, Rukungiri district.
Twesigye’s philanthropic motive was sparked by the death of his eldest brother Mushabe to HIV/Aids in August 1996. Recently, locals in the area gathered to celebrate 15 years of Nyaka Aids Foundation. The foundation has been providing the same free services to the orphans in the area, especially those whose parents died of HIV/Aids.
The celebrations coincided with the launch of a new secondary school, planned to embrace primary school graduates.
“So, Nyaka Vocational Secondary School will be receiving those who have gone through these two primary schools to enable them further their education ... so far we already have S1 and S2, but we are still contracting more classes up to S6,” Byaburakira said.
Asked whether it is possible to study from the school, even though one hasn’t passed through the said primary schools, Byaburakira agreed.
“Clearly, our aim is to help orphans and the needy in the district. If we have the space and resources needed, why not admit as many children as possible?”
Arnold Sekukuru, the headmaster of Nyaka Vocational Secondary School, said the school has all the necessary equipment to facilitate teaching of science subjects like Chemistry, Biology and Physics.
“We have a fully-stocked library, science laboratory and 50 new computers that are connected to internet ... All our students sleep in dormitories here,” Sekukuru added.
According to Sekukuru, the school currently has 104 students, with 16 at the vocational school. He added that amongst the 16, six are already studying tailoring while 10 are doing building construction.
Currently, Nyaka schools project is supporting 461 children. Of these, Kutamba primary has 227, while Nyaka has 234. The newly-started Nyaka secondary and vocational has 104, while 14 are already at Makerere University.
The children selected to study at Nyaka schools are provided with everything including school fees, scholastic materials, shoes, uniform, breakfast and lunch.
Kyambogo university council chairman John Okedi has criticised whistleblowers for saying that the university has failed to recover from the merger of the three institutions that formed it in 2003.
Speaking at the end of the three-day graduation ceremony last Friday, Prof Okedi said the university is on the move and in the right direction.
“There is a small section of people, who for reasons best known to themselves, still believe in that old-fashioned theory that we have failed. This argument is archaic, untrue, biased and completely false,” Okedi said.
Some of the graduands
He added that the university had of late received enormous funding, arguing that no donor would sink their money into a moribund institution.
Kyambogo University was created in 2003 by merging the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo (ITEK), the Uganda Polytechnic, Kyambogo (UPK) and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education (UNISE).
Okedi said although the merger had its initial birth problems and pains, the university council, senior management and staff had over the years worked hard to make the merger a success.
He said the 7,157 graduands that received certificates, diplomas, bachelor's and master’s degrees last week, could attest to university’s progress.
Among these graduands was The Observer’s acting circulation manager Robert Mukisa, who received the Bachelor of Science in Education degree. He said it is a miracle that he was able to graduate.
“I used to read in the last hour due to the pressure of balancing work and studies,” he said. “I shall continue serving The Observer … to promote teamwork with other departments.”
According to Okedi, a substantive vice chancellor will be named before end of April 2017 if no court injuctions come their way again.
Following last Thursday’s unceremonious end to a general assembly by lecturers seeking to reopen the institution, the head of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa), Dr Muhammad Kiggundu, found himself the butt of jokes by the dons.
The general assembly had been called after a series of meetings with the university council and management over a deal to reopen the university. According to Dr Kiggundu, the assembly had been called to persuade the staff to accept their November pay and one of the nine months' arrears.
When the assembly started at 3pm, there was calm as Dr Kiggundu explained the issues at stake. But suddenly, the assembly descended into chaos, with accusations flying in from the staff.
“You have been bribed to get us back in office, but that won’t work,” one don yelled, before the matter descended into a shouting match. Kiggundu’s denials of not being influenced were not helped by his failure to control the meeting.
Dr Muhammad Kiggundu, chairman of Muasa
According to a transcript of what transpired on several WhatsApp groups, the university dons accused Kiggundu of failing them, by attempting to rush them into an unclear agreement.
“That was the same deal we rejected in October before we went on strike ... how dare [Kiggundu] think we will comply just like that?” one of the dons asked.
Yet others cited Kiggundu’s predecessor, Dr Fred Tanga Odoi, and argued that if they had wanted a quick solution, there was a way to do it.
“He could have done what Tanga Odoi did, where he simply declared that the general assembly had agreed to resume classes by affirmation rather than calling for a vote,” yet another said.
Others openly doubted that Kiggundu would secure a second term of office, mid next year, when Muasa calls for elections.
“He has betrayed us … we can’t allow him to come back in the next term,” a don added.
Dr Kiggundu’s failure to get the lecturers to return to work is a setback for him, as he now has three unhappy clients to deal with. The most bitter are the administrative staff, who were made redundant by the strike, even when they were not part of it.
The second party is the university council and management who were assured by Dr Kiggundu that the institution would be reopened soon. Finally, there is the academic staff who now view Dr Kiggundu with suspicion, especially since he was a major driver in the strike.
The move to reopen the university would have seen the lecturers return to their classes in early January, but now that looks unlikely. The earliest such a move can happen is in mid or late January.
Following the failed general assembly, Muasa was scheduled to meet the university council in the coming days. It is not clear what the agenda of the meeting will be, but some at Makerere have speculated that it may be to chart a way ahead to get the university reopened before the end of January.
“After more than thirty years in education, I conclude that the best way to make our educational institutions attractive and successful is to empower their leaders through mindfulness,” says Dr Elizabeth Nakayiza in her book Mindfulness for Educational Leadership in the 21st Century.
After relating it to meditation and contemplation, Nakayiza describes mindfulness as the maintenance of a moment-by-moment awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, movements, actions and surrounding environment, whatever or wherever they may be, and doing so without judgment.
For 75 pages, Nakayiza tries to build a case for mindfulness in Uganda’s education system, especially its leadership. The first two chapters explain the concept of mindfulness and encourage the reader to understand more about the way their emotions are affecting their thoughts and behavior.
Viewed by some as a spiritual philosophy and others as a way of life, mindfulness has been in practice for over 25,000 years, more recently through religious traditions such as Stoicism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
But Nakayiza says it is high time it was brought to our obsolete education system, giving cases of several universities, mostly in the USA, where it has been used to great benefit.
She argues that many educators – particularly classroom teachers – live with such stresses as time stress, role stress, sleep stress, and job-related stresses, worsened by global stresses.
To lessen the impact, she says, mindfulness meditation or contemplation provides coping techniques for relaxation and calmness. She gives different mindful exercises and practices such as mindful listening, mantra-based meditation, sitting meditation, mindful counting, and five-minute breathing space, among others.
Nakayiza attacks Uganda’s education system for being premised on the “downloading system” where teachers and students consume content given to them by curriculum developers without any input.
She argues that excessive reliance on foreign experts has prevented Uganda’s educational institutions and subsequent education reforms from addressing contemporary and local questions and needs regarding students’ careers preparations in the new global panorama.
However, she is persuaded that a mindful leadership can offset these defaults by heightening individuals’ self-cognition, so they can assume personal responsibilities for the needed change such as through sounder decision-making.
She suggests several theories on curriculum review, centred around inputs of parents, teachers and students for they are the consumers and beneficiaries of this curriculum.
She concludes: “Were mindfulness a regular practice in Ugandan education, burnout and tension would be rare for students and teachers, and calmness and relation would become the norm in human interactions.”
Mindfulness for Educational Leadership in the 21st Century is available at bookpoint in Bugolobi at Shs 25,000.
When it comes to pre-primary education, the five years of a child's life are in many ways the most important but oftentimes many parents take this lightly.
Not Dr Mouhammad Mpezamihigo, the vice chancellor at Kampala International University, who recently started Milestones Junior School in Mukono. He spoke to ALI TWAHA.
Dr Mpezamihigo says he has started Milestone Junior School in Namugongo to make a real contribution to learning in the country.
Pupils entertaining guests
“By the time one joins higher education, there is very little to change [about] their behaviour and values. We struggle at universities as you are trying to deliver the curriculum—you also encounter an issue with the individual,” Mpezamihigo said.
His explanation came at the official launch of the school recently. The school opened its doors to pupils in February, 2016 with only three pupils, but has seen enrolment grow to 25 learners, ranging from nursery to primary three.
The school is set on a 10-acre piece of land, which he intends to turn into a complex, embracing a vocational institute and a hospital for the community. Mpezamihigo said in most schools, early brain development at pre-primary has not been fully exploited by academicians at both private and government institutions.
The chief guest at the function was the mayor of Mukono municipality, George Fred Kagimu, who pledged to push for construction of an improved road heading to the school and also encourage tree planting in the area.
“In the next two years, our Rotary [club] is to plant 15 million trees in Mukono municipality,” he said: “We are pleased that the school has a faith-based foundation for training various languages.”
Dr Mouhammad Mpezamihigo
Mpezamihigo said he hoped the school would stem the tendency of families to push their kids into menial jobs, instead of going off to learn. He added that the school was setting up a boarding section for disadvantaged parents.
However, the parents would be required to pick their children from school for the weekend to avoid what he termed a cascading emotional disadvantage that follows children into higher institutions of learning.
“They miss a lot [parent-child bond], it would strongly be recommended that these parents pick their children and help them bond,” he said.
The launch was concluded with a graduation ceremony for 15 pupils, some of whom had completed their nursery, while others were promoted to top class (pre-primary section).
As the year draws to an end, MOSES TALEMWA looks back on some of the achievements reached in 2016 and some of the challenges facing the education sector at the dawn of 2017.
The year started off on a nasty note, with indications from then education minister Jessica Alupo that all learning institutions would be closed to make way for the elections on February 18, 2016.
Grumbling school heads and parents complied. Following this, Mathew Bukenya presided over his last exam release as executive secretary of the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb). In his final remarks, Bukenya commended the education sector for the support and prayed that progress reached would be continued.
And so, on May 1, 2016, the Uneb welcomed a new executive secretary in Dan Nokrach Odongo. He is the first executive secretary to rise up the ranks to this office, since David Ongom succeeded Basil Kiwanuka in 1980. Odongo had been deputy executive secretary for Secondary Schools, reporting to the now retired Bukenya.
In that same month, Makerere University welcomed a new chancellor in Dr Ezra Suruma, who presided over his first graduation ceremony, challenging alumni not to let down the institution’s name. However, a subsequent graduation ceremony for January 2017 has been put on hold following the closure of the institution in November.
Few will remember that there was anything to celebrate at Makerere this year. Instead, many will recall the six strikes in the last 12 months that finally had their toll on the nearly-95-year-old institution.
A strike by staff over the delayed allowances turned into a student riot that saw the university closed on November 1, 2016. The institution will be closed for the longest time ever – three months, as a probe studies the intricacies of reopening it, without worsening the situation.
Before the closure however, the university had been in the midst of a guild election mess. Roy Ssembogga, a medical student, had to wait for court to call for a re-vote at Makerere, before he could win. Having formally taken office in October, Ssembogga will go down in history for serving the shortest time as guild president – two months.
He was rendered jobless by the closure, in November. And when the institution resumes, sometime in March 2017, he will have another month, before presiding over the election of his successor.
Jessica Alupo (R) handed over office as minister for Education and Sports to Janet Kataaha Museveni
The year 2016 saw new vice chancellors taking office. Among these was Kampala International University's, Mouhammad Mpezamihigo, who had just left Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), where he served as vice rector for 11 years. Others include Dr Ahmad Ssengendo who got a new term as rector at IUIU.
Kyambogo University had been expected to get a new vice chancellor, but the search process was halted and may be concluded in 2017. Dr Stephen Isabalijja also concluded his term as vice chancellor at Victoria University and has since moved on to become permanent secretary at the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Victoria University is in the process of appointing a new vice chancellor.
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) approved Mbarara University’s proposal to run a degree in emergency medicine. However, the NCHE was caught in the cross hairs of several crises relating to approved programmes at various institutions.
Several students sued the NCHE after it decreed that their nursing degrees had not been approved. The matter is still unresolved. However, the council has also threatened to shut down at least two universities for running unaccredited programmes and lacking proper corporate governance standards.
The next year will possibly be very busy at NCHE, which failed to publish a report on the performance of institutions it superintends over, for the second time running.
NEW MINISTERS
With the conclusion of the general election cycle in April, the government decided to renew itself. With education minister Jessica Alupo losing her election as Katakwi Woman MP, there was speculation she would be replaced; however, few if any could have guessed who her successor would be.
President Museveni decided to appoint Janet Museveni the new education and sports minister (replacing Alupo), and experienced educationist and advocate Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde as minister for Primary Education (to replace Dr John C Muyingo). For his part, Dr Muyingo replaced Prof Sande Stevens Tickodri, while the Sports docket was left untouched.
The ministry, hitherto the ministry of Education, Science Technology and Sports, reverted to its old name - Education and Sports. In ushering in the new leadership, the president called for more scientific innovations.
President Museveni was indeed on hand to launch several institutions and projects. These included Muni and Kabale universities, where he also installed new chancellors. Kabale University, which formally became a public institution this year, started out as a private institution.
Earlier in the year, the president was on hand to launch several innovation efforts, such as the Kayoola EV bus, for which he promised funding to turn the ideas into a reality.
Other innovations that caught our eye in the year included Makerere University’s steam engine (intended to replace the petrol engine in the long run), the solar water pumps (intended to support agriculture), the PedalTap (intended to improve hygiene in schools) and the Orahi security app (which helps track down people to avoid kidnapping).
Worth mentioning was KIU’s memorandum of understanding with the ministry of Health, which saw the university sending medical students to support the running of six hospitals, in addition to its own Ishaka hospital. The university is also working on a pharmaceuticals plant, to be based in Ishaka.
PUNITIVE ACTION
After years of investigation, the Law Development Centre finally swung the axe and cancelled the licenses of nine suspect advocates including a politician Michael Mabikke for exam malpractice.
The LDC also ordered that a further seven lawyers sit for exams after it was found that they had been erroneously passed. These included Fred Mukasa Mbidde, who has since passed the said exams.
In addition, certified pro bono lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde is in trouble with the Law Council, after it was adjudged that he had sat exams for a one Hamis Kiggundu. The two are yet to face the Law Council, which will rule on what penalty Ssemakadde will face.
Elsewhere, in the education sector, Bridge International Academies had been in the country for just six months, when they started to tussle it out with the ministry of Education and Sports.
Their main contention was the refusal to register with the ministry as an education institution. They went to court, where they lost; the court giving the state the authority to proceed with the shutdown of its 63 primary school campuses.
With another year coming to an end, education experts will find plenty to study as they look at plans for 2017. Last week, Uwezo released the findings of their 2015 survey. MOSES TALEMWA and MILCAH KATIITI studied the report.
Early each morning, Filbert Akinyi (not her real name) wakes up to attend school at Kikuube primary school in Hoima, he has a smile on his face. The eight-year old, now promoted to P3, is one of many pupils who enjoy learning at the school, based just outside Hoima municipality.
“I plan to become a pilot, so I can fly planes to far away countries he muses. “But I have been told I need to improve my reading skills to make it.”
His is an example of a learner who is looking to excel in a rapidly changing world. Hoima is about to start producing petroleum, and it is clear that the place will change substantially, attracting some of the best brains.
Thus it is not surprising that Akinyi’s parents are anxious to get the best for their son. The school’s performance in last year’s PLE exams showed that there was a lot to be achieved before its graduates are deemed the best in the country.
Some of Kikuube’s learners were part of 164,129 learners reached by a 2015 survey on numeracy and reading by Uwezo, the assessment arm of Twaweza East Africa. According to one of the assessors, Farida Nassereka, the survey assessed 97,757 children in various aspects, including their proficiency in reading a P3 level passage in English and some of the local languages such as Runyakitara, Luganda, Acholi and Ateso.
Uwezo assessors in Gulu interview a P4 pupil from Bestow PS in Gulu at her home in Laroo division
“We found that compared to our previous assessment, there was a 3% improvement in the number of children reading in English than in the local languages, due to a shortage of reading materials,” she said. “However, the improvement was very marginal and can best be seen as stagnation.”
She noted that her survey confirmed complaints by teachers, that they had no text books to help children improving their reading abilities. Many were forced to improvise by writing on charts or the blackboard.
Nassereka attributes the improvement to an increase in the number of children attending a nursery education before moving on to primary school.
“Our study shows that while 23.4% were attending nursery schools, that number had risen to 27% in 2015, although this was also mostly in the urban areas,” she added.
SADDENING TREND
However, the survey confirmed a saddening trend in learning outcomes where the 20 worst performing districts are all in northern and eastern Uganda, while the best are in central and western Uganda.
Private schools continue to outperform their state-funded counterparts in numeracy by nearly 10 % (58.8% to 49.4%). In English literacy the gap is even wider at 50.7% to 33.7%. However, the two sets of schools are only closer when assessed in local language reading skills at 39.1% to 32.9%.
MINISTRY RESPONSE
The report was formally released to the public at a function at Nakasero primary school, last Friday. Presenting the report, Uwezo’s Uganda Country coordinator, Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, called for provision of text books.
“The absence of textbooks is a challenge as not all schools can access them,” she said. “Only 30% of teachers are trained to help the disabled, which leaves out the other schools.”
She asked for increased effort to end the practice of children going to school hungry, and not getting lunch.
“Something needs to be done urgently to end this, as it affects learning outcomes.”
Responding to the report findings, the education ministry’s director for basic and secondary education, Robinson Nsumba Lyazi, admitted that there was a problem.
“Why do we have the same set of schools ... performing poorly? More needs to be done to rectify the situation,” he said.
Speaking as chief guest at the function, he committed the ministry to support improvements in learning.
“There should be more support to schools used by the disadvantaged population in the rural areas to improve learning skills … it must be a policy priority to enhance teaching and literacy in local languages,” he added. “Remedial lessons should be emphasized in schools to enable students acquire knowledge in the time required.”
He added that the ministry would continue to provide adequate textbooks to learners and teachers, under the Early Grade Reading Achievement (EGRA) programme.
This would be carried out hand in hand with plans by the sector to enhance teacher salaries in the next budget.
“Teacher motivation and accountability will be emphasized to ensure all teachers are doing their very best … and to avoid absenteeism, which can be a disadvantage to pupils.”
He also called on parents to motivate their children to read and count well in class. “The report confirmed a well-founded point, that children who have a good learning relationship with their parents are well placed to succeed in class.”
As the Uwezo report is digested for further analysis, parents like Akinyi’s will need to find time to digest the implications of obtaining positive learning outcomes.
President Museveni has directed each public university to second a lecturer to work with National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to help reform the lower and secondary education curriculum.
The move follows concerns that the 10-year process had taken too long and failed to generate the desired outcomes.
In a December 22 meeting, held at State House Entebbe, with NCDC officials and public university vice chancellors, the president emphasized the need to reduce the number of subjects taught in schools from the current 48 to 14 and urged the team to identify loop holes with a view to cut out repetition.
He noted that practical skills as well as linkages of knowledge to real-life experiences should be emphasized.
Education Minister Janet Kataaha Museveni also attended the meeting and commended the committee that seeks to address the new challenges in the education curriculum, calling on all the stake-holders to work together to see that the revised curriculum helps a Ugandan child to reduce on the workload and perform better.
She also urged the meeting to consider not overloading students with irrelevant subject matter.
The meeting agreed to improve the current curriculum especially on reduction of subjects, linking subjects taught to real life and reducing on the time children spend at school to allow them have time to interact with home environment.
Kampala International School Uganda (KISU) recently launched a state-of-the-art innovation with the Nnaabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda, presiding over the event.
The Lego Education Innovation Studio, worth over $20,000 (about Shs 72m) of Lego equipment, is planned to help children learn about robotics and art. Its equipment ranges from building bricks for the young children to Lego Mindstorms EV3 for secondary school students.
In her remarks, the Nnaabagereka commended the school for doing its best to equip children with more than just the book knowledge.
“I’m confident that children who benefit from these resources will graduate from this school, better equipped to make a positive change in life,” she said.
Steve Lang, KISU director, appreciated the Nnaabagereka’s remarks and explained the benefits of Lego.
“The Lego resources and Lego robotics facilities are aimed at enhancing teaching and learning, while developing the skills and igniting the passion of our engineers and scientists of the future,” he said.
Lego Mindstorms are a series of kits that contain software and hardware to create customizable programmable robots.
They include an intelligent brick computer that controls the system, a set of modular sensors and motors. During the launch, the students demonstrated some of the skills they had already learnt.
The Nnaabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda, has urged children to be obedient to their elders, such as parents and guardians, if they hope to succeed in life.
Queen of Buganda Sylvia Nagginda Luswata (with shades) cutting the cake with children and other officials
The Buganda royal was making her call during a special Christmas and New Year party, organized for vulnerable children at the Makindye-based Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa.
The Nnaabagereka also charged children to resist temptation from any negative peer influence. She also charged parents and caregivers to give the children adequate support and care to help shape them into positive citizens in the country.
“Let’s not only take care for children during festivities only but always because it’s our collective responsibility,” she said.
Sylvia Nagginda attends to a disabled child
Amid singing and dance, the children were given several treats, including hugs and gifts from Santa Claus and playing on various toys such as bouncing castles. The Nnaabagereka sang with the children, served cake and distributed Christmas gifts that included toys, shoes, dresses and Christmas cards, among others.
UPDF Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala has advised parents to ensure their children develop the culture of saving for their future.
Gen Katumba Wamala made the call as he presided over a Christmas/New Year party for children of combatants at the army’s Land forces headquarters in Bombo, on December 18, 2016.
"Get small boxes and guide your children on saving. Every little pocket money you give them, they should set aside some for future use. With this, we shall have a generation of people who understand the value of saving," Katumba said.
CDF Gen Katumba Wamala serves children with cake at Bombo during a christmas party
He advised that the move would guard against the challenges of parents who claim to receive little pay and fail to save for their children.
“There is no pay that will ever be enough; saving must always be done from every little income for investments which can help an individual or family develop,” he said.
However, one soldier claimed she had failed to save since her pay is sometimes late and largely too little for her family to survive on.
Several army officers turned up to celebrate with their children and Gen Katumba Wamala used the occasion to assure the public all security concerns were being ably handled.
"In this period, elements like the Kifeesi tend to take advantage and cause insecurity as our people have a good time celebrating Christmas and also while welcoming a new year,” he said.
“But we as the army, have liaised with police and are now sure that no one is going to bring problems." He, however, asked the masses not to be complacent as they get into the New Year. "Don’t again leave your homes without anyone keeping watch. Thugs have also strategized to take advantage of such loopholes."
Brian Kyazze was all smiles at Trinity College Nabingo. He was one of 507 who completed their A-levels, with support from MasterCard Foundation Scholars programme and Brac Uganda.
For a child who was raised in an orphanage (Charis Child Centre-Namataba) all his life, this was a big opportunity that was presented to him and was to be properly utilized.
Kyazze, who hails from Nakaseke district, said he had not expected to continue with his education after senior four, as he could not believe his aunt who was a petty businessmen could afford.
“The story is long; although I performed well in primary, where I scored first grade (aggregate-8), I joined senior one in the second term because we did not have school fees, and what was funny was that it is my aunt who took me to Bwera SS in Kasese district,” he said. “Through the MasterCard Foundation Scholars programme and Brac scholarship, I was able to join Gombe SS where I have been studying Physics, Economics and Mathematics (PEM); my dream is to become an engineer.”
A comprehensive package, which includes tuition, learning materials, transport, pocket money, mentoring support, internship opportunities, community service and leadership training is provided to the beneficiaries.
Some of the graduates of the BRAC/ MasterCard programme at Nabbingo
Like Kyazze, Eve Nakalembe, a beneficiary, said apart from the full scholarship, and in spite of her tough history, she feels empowered and can decide what her destiny will be because of the education and the skills she has received from the organizations.
“During holidays, Brac Uganda used to hold seminars that helped us to understand what we are; also, we got hands-on skills that will help us get going as we wait for our results,” she said.
The MasterCard Foundation Scholars programme was specifically set up to educate and develop academically-qualified and talented yet economically-disadvantaged backgrounds to attain quality education who will contribute to the transformation of Uganda and African continent.
Grace Sennoga, the communication officer of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars programme, said they had supported 5,000 students since 2012 when it started and this is the third cohort that they are passing out.
“Completing secondary education implies that the 507 scholars are off the scholars programme at Brac and will join the alumni network of 593 beneficiaries that completed senior six in 2014 and 2015.
WHAT NEXT
While the recruitment for more scholars ended this year, the programme will continue to support scholars both on O-level and A-level till they complete secondary school.
Atiqur Rahman, Brac Uganda’s acting country representative, said they would support their scholars with admission to institutes, if they fail to secure admission to a formal tertiary institution, such as a university.
“We are organizing internship programmes for the alumni, here they will be able to get skills that would help them in life,” he said.
However, Sennoga said that Brac was working to ensure its scholars are admitted to universities.
“The MasterCard Foundation has university partners in different parts of the world like South Africa, USA, Canada, Ghana, Costa Rica, Lebanon, and in Uganda, we partner with Makerere University to provide university education opportunities to the scholars,” she said.
Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, the state minister for higher education commended the programme and advised that Brac and The MasterCard Foundation go beyond secondary school education.
Luweero district education officer, Florence Bbosa Sekitooleko has challenged head teachers to improve their skills with email.
She explained that her emails to head teachers had gone unanswered, creating a communication gap between her office and several school heads. Sekitooleko made the remarks during an end-of-year meeting for all primary school head teachers at Pope John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Luweero late last month.
Sekitooleko said she had had a difficult time communicating to school heads during 2016 and urged them to brush up their email skills, as it was more affordable.
“A lot of money is spent in transport and phone calls. I asked you head teachers to open up email accounts but only one or two have done so,” she said. “It gives me headache to always call you by phone to come pick a document, go and work on it, after you return it. This is time-consuming. Please why don’t you embrace technology, leave the analogue world?”
She added that the problem is worsened by some head teachers switching off their telephones. Charles Mutumba, the chairperson of Bamunanika cluster which covers 20 primary schools, also doubling as head teacher St Mary’s Malungu PS Bamunanika, admitted to The Observer in an interview that the 19 head teachers under his jurisdiction have no email addresses, leaving him solely with it [email].
“I have also found it a problem to link the district’s education offices with the head teachers under my management,” he said.
Some of the graduands jubilating at the event
Mutumba added that in his findings, the lack of power in far-located schools is also partly responsible for the head teachers’ slow response to use emails because they can’t use computers in their offices.
He stressed that since most of them have aged and are even not Information Technology [IT] savvy, they see no value in embracing the modern-day technology of using internet an attitude which has also seen them fail to buy internet enabled phones [smart phones] to access email wherever they may be.
“All of these 19 head teachers I manage have analogue phones. No one has a smart phone. Now sending them an email can’t even be checked on mobile phones,” he said.
However, James Ssonko, the head teacher, Luweero SDA primary school, said he had secured a computer recently and was planning on how to save on internet expenses, arguing that data charges are still high yet their budget is remarkably small.
Few use mobile phone numbers in the place of emails. And many young people who have not exceeded ordinary level have email addresses. This leaves queries why head teachers are not embracing digital technology.
“Our fathers sent us to funny schools that taught us how to raid and steal cattle. Now we want to be like other Ugandans and have educated children,” said Paul Lokoliz Agan.
These are the words of a respected elder among the Karimojong during the second community activation launch on Early Childhood Development (ECD) at Lomukura playground in Kotido district, recently.
The National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy (NIECD) was developed by ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in March 2016 and is premised to ensure children’s rights to survival, protection, development and wellbeing.
The NIECD, which is expected to be accommodated in the education ministry over time, targets children from conception up to eight years. In Karamoja region, however, the policy is bound to face grievous challenges none more pronounced than the visible poverty and lack of water.
Children enjoy refreshments
To get clean water for the day, residents must queue by 6am. But this is no guarantee that one will actually get the water early enough, since the pressure from the pump reduces by 10am. Consequently, the cost of water, when obtained in the neighbourhood is a hefty Shs200 per jerrycan. With hardly any sustainable income in the area, the residents can only afford to trek over 5km to fetch water from the nearest natural wells and public boreholes.
“The boreholes are too far and the water is too salty,” says Teddy Achola, a mother of a one-year-old son in Lomukura trading centre. “In the afternoon, there is no water (from the taps). We are really struggling but have to bear with the situation. If you don’t have water, you have to buy from the wheel cart at Shs 1,000 per jerrycan,” she says.
The financial and sanitation toll the lack of water takes on families and more so on children’s education is obvious. Many are not able to attend school, as they are too busy fetching water, or too exhausted after that to consider studying. The farther you go into the villages, the worse it gets, says Mariam, a mother of three children all under 10 years.
Keno Maracello, a law enforcement officer in Karamoja, says both parents and children have abandoned their cardinal roles. The police arrest 20-30 children daily on average. These are usually found loitering the streets.
“When we arrest them, we call the parents to try to talk to the children. Some come, others don’t. And for those who send the children to school, the children don’t want to go,” he says.
Indeed, Aisha Hamisi, a caregiver at Kotido Muslim Early Education Centre, confirms that the number of children going to school is recently going down, at least at her school. The centre had 45 pupils last year but just 30 this year. She admits that the Shs 50,000 parents pay in fees, is too high but the centre insists on it since it gets no support from the local government or the various NGOs in the region.
“Because parents failed to pay, we could no longer offer posho and beans to the pupils. Now we just give them porridge with some little sugar. In fact parents used to send their children to school, so that they can come and get a meal,” Hamisi explains.
She adds that many parents in the Karamoja region believe early childhood development is free since they don’t see any ‘learning’ at the centres. Parents think they are just play centres.
However, Hamisi is convinced that the ‘playing’ the parents think is happening at the centres is actually learning, which calls for specialised tools like water paint, boards and charts, among others. When her pupils were offered painting sessions in the Save the Children tent, some mistook it for juice and attempted to drink it.
“It is because they are not exposed,” she defended them. “We do a lot of talking which we are not supposed to do … we don’t have the necessary tools.” She argues that the best way to express oneself to the child is not by talking.
“The eyes of the child are in their fingers. The walls, the boards should be talking, not the teachers,” she adds.
Catherine Ntabadde Makumbi, the communications specialist at Unicef, says the policy is a comprehensive approach, offering strategies for good health, nutrition and sanitation environments for better growth of children.
She says from zero to two years, the early learning lies solely with the children’s parents/family. From three to five years, the child accesses learning centres from where they learn inter-personal relations with fellow pupils.
According to Unicef, the learning centres (known as kindergartens elsewhere) are a new project being implemented in Karamoja as a way of improving learning outcomes there.
Only a handful of centres have been established in Kotido. It is hoped that with the education ministry planning to reserve a classroom at each primary school for ECD, the influence of this level of learning will grow further.
It is a new year – 2017. As MOSES TALEMWA and YUDAYA NANGONZI have already found, it will be quite a busy one for the education and sports sector. We have talked to several people in the sector on their expectations this year.
President Museveni has already kicked off actions that will become critical in the sector. He has asked for a new committee of lecturers appointed from the all public universities, to work with the National Curriculum Development Centre in reviewing and completing the O-level curriculum.
The move comes in the wake of concerns about whether the curriculum, about which many secondary school heads and university officials are concerned, will be unveiled in 2018, as planned.
However, some education officials are not exactly convinced that the president is going about it the right way. Consider, Fred Mwesigye, executive director of the Forum for Education NGOs of Uganda (Fenu).
“This is bound to cause problems. That is not how you develop a curriculum,” Mwesigye said. “I know there are those who say the current curriculum is useless, but the only answer I can give to these is that they have not mastered how to teach their subjects … the ministry should instead put emphasis on improving pedagogy – how teachers instruct their learners.”
President Museveni poses during the launch of Kayoola EV. There are calls for more funding for innovations
However, the president believes the measure will make learning easier for students, once the committee's work is completed.
BUDGET PRIORITIES
Elsewhere, ministry officials have already shared plans for the next sector budget, which if approved, will see increased emphasis on salaries for teachers, tutors as well as lecturers, among other priorities. This is a matter that has Mwesigye excited.
“There better be more emphasis on increased pay… if it is not done, little will be achieved in the sector,” Mwesigye says. “Many people are unhappy with the situation… they have been reduced to holding qualifications but with no hope … especially with increasing inflation – it is inevitable.”
The other issue tackled in the budget will be increased infrastructure development; from rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools, to building technical schools and university campuses. More teachers’ houses are also on the programme, which promises to be massive, compounded with contributions from the treasury and the donor community.
And still on vocational education, there will be a lot of infrastructure development with money flowing in from several donors and the government, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
However, Mwesigye has some advice. “There should also be some emphasis on the required human power as well as the required equipment … but the ministry should put up more incentives, and private BTVET developers should also be considered.”
HAKUNA MCHEZO
But if 2016 was an opportunity for some of the officials joining the sector to get settled in, 2017 is going to be a year of increased enforcement of standards. According to Muhammed Huzaifah Mutazindwa, director education standards at the ministry of Education and Sports, the sector will pay more attention to regulations with all players.
“We are going to leverage on ICT to stamp out absenteeism of teachers, head teachers and even learners. We shall ensure that all education institutions that open their doors to children in this country have the basic requirements and minimum standards,” he said.
Mutazindwa indicated that the sector has learned from the troubles that emerged over the operations of Bridge International Academies last year. He said there would be more emphasis on requirements for operating schools in the country.
“We are also going to ensure that we step up inspection in order to improve the achievement levels of learners. Ultimately, we want to see that efficiency and effectiveness reign during the year 2017,” he said. “We can only do that when we deal with absenteeism and ensure that resources like teachers, capitation grants, teaching and learning materials are utilised.”
BASIC EDUCATION
In 2017, the ministry will continue emphasis on early childhood education (ECD), with more funding and some logistical support, in the frame of readers. The sector has been supporting ECD for the last three years and at some point on the ground that this should ultimately improve learning outcomes across the board. However, Mwesigye has some concerns about this, arguing that the emphasis should be placed elsewhere.
“[The crisis in ECD] is not as urgent as it is being portrayed – our biggest concern is in the facilitation in primary schools … whatever is lost at nursery school can be improved with more support to primary schools,” he said. “With improved schools, learning outcomes will improve over time.”
Officials in the secondary education department at the ministry have indicated that there will be some review of policies there. However, no details are being discussed now. In the meantime, Mwesigye thinks he knows what is being considered.
“The public-private partnership policy in supporting schools needs revisiting urgently … the whole thing is not working properly.
Teachers were encouraged to make learning interactive and fun by including physical education as seen here at Police Primary School in Gulu
Mwesigye explains it is unfair to the privately-founded schools to receive Shs 47,000 from the capitation grant fund, while state-aided schools Shs 47,000 as well as teachers, laboratory equipment and textbooks.
“It is not fair to the privately-founded schools that are also supporting children, who are born by taxpaying parents … something needs to change to level the ground.”
UNEB
Early last year, the Uganda National Examinations Board changed leadership. Apart from the executive secretary, Dan Nokrach Odongo, the Uneb also saw its board’s mandate renewed. Consequently, the mood at Uneb is upbeat, according to Odongo.
“We also see ourselves consolidating on our achievements in ICT usage as a driving force in enabling us to improve on the effectiveness of our service delivery,” Odongo said. “We [hope that] in the New Year, [after] having a revised Uneb Act, we will address a number of weaknesses … have taken place since the old Act was enacted in 1983.”
Odongo also envisages an increase in the number of candidates taking Uneb exams in 2017, more funding and expansion on infrastructure to accommodate the increases in numbers.
“We look forward to a more fruitful examination year and more engagements with government to bridge the funding gaps.”
UNIVERSITIES
According to the minister for Higher Education, Dr John C Muyingo, there will be major amendments in the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, coming to parliament, later this year.
The minister was non-committal on what changes would be coming. However, officials at the ministry have indicated that the changes could give more authority to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to superintend over institutions it is supposed to supervise. Other changes may relate to how university vice chancellors are appointed or elected.
In a related development, in the meantime, Prof Jack Nyeko Pen-Mogi, the chairperson of NCHE, thinks the sector should consider more support for higher education.
“We are aware of the limited national budget but we believe that government could still afford to put up a research budget between Shs 50bn and Shs 100bn for competitive grants to Ugandan scientists annually as a way of supporting higher degree education,” he said.
Ultimately, the sector will welcome at least three new university vice chancellors, later this year. Makerere, Kyambogo and Victoria universities are expected to get new vice chancellors, later this year.
VERBATIM
Prof Arthur Sserwanga, Muteesa I Royal University "We are planning to bring on board more vocational courses that are relevant to the job market. … We don’t intend to bring on new courses but shall improve on the many that we have to make them relevant for the industry."
Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, Uganda Technology and Management University
“I would like to see government coming up with more policies on guiding higher education. I want to see government withdrawing a little bit from public universities in terms of governance, management and oversight. Government should give them grants and allow them to manage their salaries and other expenditures.”
Prof Badru Kateregga, Kampala University “I think many things will change this year and institutions of higher learning will improve the quality of their graduates. More institutions will also come on board to increase access to higher education.”
The November 1, 2016 closure of Makerere University found GRACE NAKIBAALA on her way to the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) innovators' competition known as TechCon 2016.
This innovator, under the university's school of Public Health, developed the PedalTap, as her contribution to improving hygiene among students and the public. The innovation won a second-place prize in the Products and Services category. She talked to us about her win at TechCon.
It was an honour for me to have been part of the USAID Higher Education Solutions Network TechCon 2016 from November 10 to November 12, 2016 at MIT. I can confidently say that my participation greatly enriched my experience through this rich journey of creatively thinking and innovating to address communities’ most pressing challenges.
My participation in the TechCon 2016 innovation marketplace opened a lot of different thoughts about the innovation ‘PedalTap’, (where one uses a pedal to turn on a tap) which we are currently working on.
Grace Nakibaala explains her PedalTap innovation at MIT, USA
This exposure also rebuilt my strength as an innovator with a goal to improve hand hygiene in different target communities through providing both products and services. The competition in the innovation marketplace was fierce, battling with amazing innovations and innovators.
MORE SCARY
Being an individual participant for my team with teams that had their entire members around, made the environment even more scary. I had to think of numerous strategies to reach more marketplace participants, how to appropriately share the main points about the PedalTap innovation.
I had to raise the most dollars from the crowd to be able to run for the top three positions in the product and service category. It is my passion, thoughtfulness and dedication to my work, innovation and women leadership/ power, it is me being relentless.
Innovators and dear readers, the rich opportunities in the marketplace provided me with rich insights throughout the process which started with the submission of our applications to pitching, gathering feedback and support for the future while networking with all the seemingly-interested attendees.
Beyond the PedalTap win, which is a great achievement for the PedalTap team, I was also able to leverage partnership to further support refining of the product, moving it from pilot to scale. It was also at this marketplace where I met the team helping us refine the PedalTap business model.
We also received numerous feedback and comments about the innovation, which we are currently using to refine the product and prepare for scaling. With continued engagement with all the contacts we made through TechCon 2016, we will be able to realize impact in our communities.
The PedalTap win at the TechCon 2016 innovation marketplace competition has also given PedalTap and the team visibility both locally and internationally. I can say that the world knows Grace Nakibaala, the young female architect, who is going to change hand hygiene through innovating products and services; that will improve hand hygiene practices at public water points, reducing infection spread, while saving water in our communities.
I was also one of the speakers at the closing plenary, sharing my vision for the Next Generation practitioners. I shared about the need for the next-generation practitioner to be relentless.
The Makerere University team, led by Prof William Bazeyo (L), with Grace Nakibaala (2nd L) displaying their awards
It is my relentlessness that has enabled me persevere, as I work towards my dream of developing products that ease hand hygiene to prevent the spread and frequency of potent and infectious diseases at public water points at the same time saving water.
In addition, the side events, panel discussions, and sessions that mainly focused on creative approaches to solution ideation, testing and scaling for international development were a rich learning opportunity. All the knowledge acquired is helping the PedalTap team further shape the innovation for impact and business.
TechCon was worthwhile and beyond my hard work, I remain forever indebted to Makerere University School of Public Health ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) for their continued support.
RAN has supported us through their pitch Tuesdays, innovation garage sessions, where we were introduced to the RAN partners including Innovation Consortium Limited, who have also supported innovators through the proof of concept and fabrication of all prototypes that have been piloted in Kampala and beyond.
With all the resources RAN provides to innovators, I have greedily scooped all of them, attending all trainings that they offer, benefiting from one of their grants, using their space and seeking guidance from all the staff to help PedalTap and even individual innovators reach the height of innovation.
I’m also very glad that RAN fully supported my travel to MIT for TechCon 2016. I pledge to continue sharing the learning experiences with many students, youth and innovators which I hope will encourage them to be relentless about their dreams.
I’m proud to be an innovator. The future is in our hands.
Makerere University academic staff return to business today, nearly two weeks after a section of them agreed to suspend their strike.
However, as CHRISTOPHER TUSIIME & BAKER BATTE LULE found, not all is going as expected. The staff have now turned the guns on one of their own over a decision to halt the strike.
For many, a message emerged out of the blue, inviting the academic staff to an emergency general assembly in the university’s main hall on December 15, 2016. According to the registry passed around, at least 400 dons attended this meeting.
However, to those who had been following matters, the chairman of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa), Dr Muhammad Kiggundu, had called the session to order to end the strike.
Dr Kiggundu was somewhat aware that there would be resistance, a month after the lecturers had elected to set their tools down, over arrears in allowances.
But if he had known, the Muasa chairman was unprepared for outburst from the irritated lecturers, when he explained that they were in the meeting to endorse a call to end the strike. Prior to this, a university council meeting had agreed with Muasa to end the strike once they had agreed to a one month salary and one month of allowances arrears.
“I couldn’t base my decision on what council is offering, it is belittling, unacceptable and a cowardly act to hold onto people’s salaries and manipulate them to make a decision that you want,” screamed Dr Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi, Muasa spokesperson.
“These are not the kind of people we can trust as our leaders. “Many of them are self-seekers and they have no heart for the university and the nation.”
Dr Muhammad Kiggundu (L) speaks to Muasa spokesperson Dr Deus Muhwezi at an earlier event. Today the two don't see eye to eye
Several stood up to support Dr Muhwezi before he continued. “The only hope that will get us out of this quagmire is the visitation committee and the visitor of this university.”
But it was left to Dr William Tayeebwa to set the meeting on fire when he questioned Dr Kiggundu’s motive in insisting that they call for a vote on the motion to suspend the strike.
After this, the lecturers, by now angry at what they saw as betrayal by the Muasa executive, started shouting and later moved out. At that time, Kiggundu could have called the vote but was numbed by the accusations of betrayal and chose to call it off.
BRIBERY ACCUSATIONS
After this meeting, members took their fury to their different social media platforms; Mak intranet and on WhatsApp groups. A sneak pick into a thread of intranet conversations between the staff reveals accusations and counter accusations of bribery, arm-twisting and blackmail among members.
Professor Jacob Godfrey Agea, Muasa welfare secretary, described the December 19, 2016 general assembly as a betrayal and “the darkest and the blackest Monday” at Makerere.
Quoting Psalm 41:9, Agea wrote, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”
This feeling of betrayal was also captured by Robert Byamukama who went further to state that the Muasa general assembly had lost meaning. Another of Muasa’s top members, Dr James Ocita, observed that some of their colleagues were trying to position themselves politically.
“A number of our leaders have betrayed us by using this crisis [our pains] to position themselves favorably in the eyes of the powers that be, for their selfish reasons at our expense,” wrote Dr James Ocita, one of the five Muasa members that were appointed as members of the strike management committee.
“A number of us have pointed this out to them but we’ve done this internally without fear or favour. I was disturbed that our chairman chose to ignore all this and, instead, chose to attack those of us who expressed dissent, as jostling for positions on the Muasa executive,” Ocita wrote.
“My position is and has been that it is premature to call off the strike. Part of the reason nothing works well in this country is that nothing is ever well-thought through, and we don’t seem to learn from history.”
Like Ocita, Dr Giregon Olupot, also spoke out against the way Kiggundu steered the meeting.
“I would like to suggest that we do not allow the Muasa chair and his deputy to chair that EGA [Emergence General Assembly] but that we actually appoint a neutral person to do so. They are top-class traitors!” Olupot wrote.
STRIKE SUSPENDED
Fast forward to December 19, 2016 and a fraction of the lecturers – 134 were back in the same main hall to vote on the matter. Word doing the rounds on social media indicates that lecturers attending the second general assembly were selectively invited, with preference for those who would vote to suspend the strike.
According to Dr Muhwezi, the association has over 700 members but only 137 turned up to vote in the second meeting. Of these, 81 voted the strike be suspended, while 56 opposed the idea. But the result had infuriated even more dons, who again accused Dr Kiggundu of bribery. When The Observer talked to Dr Kiggundu about the accusations of being compromised, he dismissed them flatly.
“I don’t work by compromises and history will have to tell. Everybody has a right to talk but the truth is always discovered in the end,” Kiggundu said.
On why it was only 137 Muasa members out of several hundreds that voted, Kiggundu said this was a normal thing.
“In the Muasa constitution, it's only 30 people that constitute quorum; what we did was legal. Secondly, the framers of that constitution knew that you cannot have academicians at the same time in one place.”
However, James Ocita is unconvinced. “I didn’t agree with the meeting in the first place,” Ocita said. “In the first meeting [held on Thursday, December 16] the general assembly had spoken very clearly and our position was that council had not given us anything worth discussing.”
He cites a letter reportedly issued by the Makerere University council chairman Eng Dr Charles Wana-Etyem, in which he resolved that lecturers actually demand for five months of incentive arrears, and not nine as some had wanted.
The matter prompted Dr John Fisher from the college of Humanities and Social Sciences (Chuss), to agree with Ocita that it was real betrayal for Kiggundu to call a general assembly and push for suspending the strike because they didn’t achieve what forced them to lay down their tools.
“How could you call off a strike when there is no agreement on paying arrears for four months?” Dr Fisher asked. “By the time we went on strike, we were demanding incentive arrears for nine months, that is from February to October. Council said they only know from February up to June. Why would you call off the strike in such circumstances?”
To Fisher, Kiggundu’s insistence on suspending the strike was improper as the visitation committee that was put in place to solve the mess at Makerere will now lose its rigour and pace of probing since the university will be open and everything thing moving on well.
Then Ocita raised what he says is a common sentiment on the intranet and WhatsApp groups for Muasa members.
“It’s not that the majority of the teaching staff were in favour of [suspending] the strike … but what is the point of continuing with a strike when your leaders are betraying you?”
But Kiggundu is adamant he has not been bribed by anyone to support the suspension of the strike, but deemed it necessary as an individual and with the Muasa executive.
“The visitation committee was very clear that for it to do its work more effectively, there was need for us lecturers to actually call off the strike; so, we had to give them a conducive ground for them to do their work,” he says. “As lecturers, we even know that you cannot use only one method to teach the same thing to students. When one method fails, you actually change to another one. The strike was not yielding any results.”
Former students of Uganda Martyrs SSS Namugongo have contributed Shs 10m towards the rebuilding of the school gate.
Yesterday, the old students handed over a Shs 10 million dummy cheque to the authorities at the ground-breaking ceremony at the school premises. The ceremony was spearheaded by Uganda Martyrs Old Students Association (Umosan).
Speaking at the ceremony, Umosan president, Aaron Ssemakula noted that this was a start of greater things for the school as old students come together to uphold the greatness of their school.
A visibly over-joyed headteacher, Rev Father Henry Kasasa received the former student’s contribution amidst wild cheers from members of staff.
Former students hand over a dummy cheque to the headteacher Rev Father Henry Kasasa (2nd left)
The school gate reconstruction project is estimated to cost about Shs 40 million. The former students committed to raise the remaining Shs 30 million ahead of the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations in June this year.
Asked why the old students chose the gate, Ian Ortega an old student noted that “a gate is symbolic in a sense that it’s the first thing you see as you join a school and it’s the last thing that meets your eyes as the school releases you into the world. We want all the people who’ve gone through the gates of Namugongo to always look at this symbol as the platform where their greatness was first brewed.”
The school was founded in 1967 and 50 years later, the school has positioned itself as one of the most successful and best performing Ugandan secondary schools.
As part of its expansion programme, the school has also started a Day Care and Nursery School for the Namugongo parish in an exchange program for farmland just above the school football pitch. This will enable agriculture students to conduct hands-on lessons.
Kampala Parents School, as run by the Ruparelia group, will soon expand its services to Entebbe, with a state-of-the-art multi-billion shilling complex, later this year.
The complex will house a nursery, secondary and a branch of Victoria University, among others. The news came during a graduation ceremony for 270 former P7 pupils of the school, recently. According to the school’s director, Rajiv Ruparelia, they had already secured land in Entebbe, to build what he described as a multipurpose education complex.
“We have taken a deliberate decision to invest heavily in the education sector because we believe the future of the nation begins at school,” Rajiv said. [The project] is geared towards providing high-quality education to the population of Uganda and beyond.”
Kampala Parents pupils in the library
He explained that the expansion was driven by the need to reach more parents and learners. However, he added that the pupil population had surpassed the total accommodative capacity of the Naguru campus.
Rajiv hoped that parents and teachers would acknowledge the contribution made by the Ruparelia group to the development of education in Uganda.
When some Muslim parents challenged the school principal Daphane Kato about a prayer space for their children in the school, Ruparelia was quick to intervene by explaining that while they would not build a mosque, there was a room for praying. Construction is expected to start later this year.
Following a directive by the education ministry, district leaders have up to the end of the month to close all unlicensed schools in the country.
Jinja district education officer David Nabeta last week announced that they had developed a list of 87 learning centres that are yet to fulfill the basic requirements.
He told The Observer that he had written to these schools requesting them to fulfill minimum standards like fire extinguishers, libraries, and well-furnished classrooms.
He added that only 11 had complied.
“We have informed them that schools failing to meet minimum standards of acquiring licenses by 31st January, 2017, are deemed as candidates of closure,” Nabeta said with finality.
“These unlicensed schools were given two months to have minimum standards and acquire licenses but all those who fail this target by 31st January shall be closed automatically.” Nabeta urged parents to take their children to licensed schools to avoid any inconvenience.
“I have urged parents to make good consultations concerning the license status of the schools they hope to take their children to avoid disturbances [when authorities intervene],” Nabeta added.
In relation to Nabeta’s statement, the regional police commander of Kiira region, Godfrey Maate, confirmed that he was prepared to enforce a directive on closure of unlicensed schools.
“We shall enforce all directives by the education department [including] the closure of unlicensed schools in Jinja district so as to maintain law and order,” Maate said. “Parents should start withdrawing their children from unlicensed to well-established schools with all the minimum requirements of learning.”
“After more than thirty years in education, I conclude that the best way to make our educational institutions attractive and successful is to empower their leaders through mindfulness,” says Dr Elizabeth Nakayiza in her book Mindfulness for Educational Leadership in the 21st Century.
